Unused Ministry of Defence gear costs billions

The Ministry of Defence is wasting billions of pounds of public money on
supplies it does not use, MPs have said.

The committee said the MoD spent £1.5 billion on unused materials and consumable supplies, such as ammunition, between 2009 and 2011Photo: AP

7:00AM GMT 28 Feb 2013

The public accounts committee urged the MoD to sell supplies with a total value of £3.4 billion that it has identified as appropriate for disposal.

In a report published yesterday, the committee said the MoD spent £1.5 billion on unused materials and consumable supplies, such as uniforms and ammunition, between 2009 and 2011.

By the start of last year, the department had built an inventory of supplies with a gross value of £40.3 billion. It was running out of storage space to put equipment that is due to return from Afghanistan and Germany, said the report.

The MoD does not always dispose of items it no longer needs, the committee found. More than £4.2 billion worth of non-explosive supplies had not moved for at least two years, while storehouses held other items in sufficient quantities to last for five years.

The stockpile has grown despite warnings of the need for action dating back to 1991 from the National Audit Office. The report found that the MoD’s purchasing system focused on ensuring it had enough supplies to meet demand, rather than preventing excess ordering.

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Richard Bacon, an MP on the committee, said it was “unacceptable” that public money was spent on supplies the MoD “doesn’t need”.

The MoD aims to reduce spending on equipment by £500 million a year by 2015 and is investing £1.1 billion on a system to improve its inventory management. It plans to reduce its stock held by 35 per cent to make room for supplies returning from operations.